Annual awards dinner set for Dec. 7; names of recipients are announcedDon’t miss the 2006 Oregon State Bar Annual Awards Dinner on Thursday, Dec. 7 at The Benson Hotel in Portland.

The annual awards include the OSB Award of Merit and four OSB President’s Awards: the Membership Service Award; the Public Service Award; the Affirmative Action Award; and the Special Appreciation Award.

The evening will also include the Edwin J. Peterson Professionalism Award, presented by the Oregon Bench/Bar Commission on Professionalism and the Oregon New Lawyers Division Awards.

If you would like to RSVP or need additional information about this event, contact Karla Houtary at (800) 452-8260, ext. 367, or (503) 620-0222, ext. 367, or by e-mail at khoutary@osbar.org . You can also find information about this event on the bar’s website at osbar.org. Please RSVP by Nov. 20.. Tickets are $60.

OSB President’s Special Award of Appreciation: David B. Markowitz and Peter C. Richter

Edwin J. Peterson Professionalism Award: Donald H. Marmaduke

Apply for the OSB Leadership CollegeThe OSB Leadership College is seeking applicants for 2007. The program’s mission is to recruit, educate and retain emerging leaders for the legal community and the bar. College fellows are selected by an advisory board and commit to a one-year program consisting of five three-hour sessions.

For an application and more information, contact Peggy Miller at (503) 620-0222, ext. 384, or toll-free in Oregon, (800) 452-8260, ext. 384; or pmiller@osbar.org. Applications are due by Dec. 15.

Online CLE library coming soon
The resource you’ve been waiting for is almost here! "BarBooks" online library is coming in January 2007. With BarBooks you and your office will be able to access all 46 of the bar’s CLE publications from any computer via the Internet.

If you sign up by March 1, 2007, you’ll receive $100 off the regular annual subscription price for the first year.

Civil Rights Legend to Speak in Portland
The Hon. Thelton Henderson, U. S. District Court Senior Judge, Northern District of California, will be in Portland on December 15, 2006 to speak and answer questions following the playing of his documentary film, Soul of Justice. The film is free and will be shown during lunch in the jury assembly room of the Hatfield Courthouse.

Judge Henderson is a graduate of Boalt Hall. He was the first black Justice Department lawyer in the South in the early 1960's; and he has had a distinguished career as a lawyer, an academic, and a judge. In the late 1960's after directing a legal services office in East Palo Alto, California, Judge Henderson moved to Stanford Law School, where he created Stanford’s minority admissions program. Judge Henderson spent several years in private practice as a civil rights lawyer before he was appointed to the Federal District Court bench by President Carter in 1979.

In this inspiring film, Abby Ginzberg, a lawyer and award winning producer of documentary films, has captured the highlights of Judge Henderson’s life, from his humble beginnings in Watts to his still active career on the bench.
Anyone interested in meeting and talking with a front line civil rights attorney should not miss this.

Program topics include licensing issues, filing claims, hearings process, enforcement and miscellaneous issues. It is approved for 3.5 MCLE credits.

Registration is $50 for non-members; $65 for members. A continental breakfast and lunch are included. Pre-registration is required as space is limited. Register with the OSB Service Desk by calling (503) 684-7413 or toll-free in Oregon at (503) 620-0222, ext. 413.

Immediately following the seminar, during the lunch, the section will hold its annual business meeting, which should last no more than 30 minutes.

Reciprocity, house counsel applicants
The following have applied for admission either via reciprocity, as house counsel or law teacher. The Board of Bar Examiners requests that members examine this list and bring to the board’s attention in a signed letter any information that might influence the board in considering the moral character of any applicant for admission. Send correspondence to Marlyce Gholston, Executive Director, Oregon State Board of Bar Examiners, 5200 S.W. Meadows Road, Lake Oswego, OR 97035.

Notice of reinstatement applicationsThe following attorneys have filed applications for reinstatement as active members of the Oregon State Bar pursuant to Rule of Procedure (BR) 8.1.

David C. Brownmiller (fka David C. Miller) of Portland, OSB #79086,was disbarred by the Oregon Supreme Court in 1987. In re Miller, 303 Or 253, 735 P2d 591 (1987). Until 1991, he was employed with Dean Witter in Colorado. He entered seminary in 1991, receiving a masters of divinity in 1994. Until 2003, Miller worked with the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado and Oregon. He is presently employed as a retirement counselor with PERS. He intends to seek a position in mediation if reinstated.

Carol L. Chaffee of Seneca, OSB #95041, transferred to inactive status in 1996 because she was not practicing law in Oregon. From 1990 to 1997, she was employed as a law clerk with the Washington State Court of Appeals. She then relocated to Nevada, where she was a staff attorney for the Nevada Supreme Court until 2003. Since then, Chaffee has been a deputy attorney general with the Idaho Attorney General’s office. She is currently in the process of relocating to Oregon.

Lee Whalen of Seattle, OSB #87098, has been an inactive bar member since 1995. From 1986 to 1994, Whalen was employed in the securities field, first as a tax attorney with Deloitte Touche, then as an attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Seattle. He joined Windemere Real Estate in Seattle in 1994, where he is presently an associate agent. Whalen has no specific plans to practice law after reinstatement.

The Rules of Procedure require the Board of Governors to conduct an investigation of BR 8.1 reinstatement applications to determine whether applicants possess the good moral character and general fitness to practice law, and that the resumption of the practice of law in this state by these applicants will not be detrimental to the administration of justice or the public interest. Any person with information relevant to these applications is asked to contact promptly the OSB Regulatory Services Division, P.O. Box 1689, Lake Oswego, OR 97035; phone: (503) 620-0222, or toll-free in Oregon, (800) 452-8260, ext. 343.

Users of the online research tool, Casemaker, will soon find expanded and simpler search capabilities that will be more user-friendly. The newest search enhancement will allow users to be able to search in multiple state and federal libraries simultaneously. This feature produces expanded results in an economical amount of time.

By the end of 2006, the Casemaker website will contain legal libraries for all 50 states. Casemaker is also enlarging its current state libraries to include all appellate case law, state constitutions, rules of court, current statutes, as well as other selected items.

Casemaker’s Federal Library is also expanding to include all decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court and all U.S. Circuit Court decisions since 1950.

Also, Casemaker will soon be sporting a brand-new look. The process of revamping the site’s appearance has been designed to present a "cleaner" appearance. Users will find expanded and simpler search capabilities that will be even more user-friendly. Users will continue to search using Boolean operators as well as natural language. Searching in Casemaker will continue to be as easy as typing a question.

Casemaker will also maintain its unique Thesaurus function which allows users to search for words that are similar or otherwise related to the object word. Users will continue to be able to search using prefix and suffix expansions, another feature unique to Casemaker.

Last year, Technolawyer.com conducted a poll among its members of the popularity of on-line legal research libraries. Casemaker received more votes in its 20 member states than any other service. In the final nationwide vote tally, Casemaker finished second to Lexis even though the lawyers in the remaining 30 states did not have access to Casemaker. And since the time of this poll, an additional five state bar associations have joined the Casemaker Consortium to provide the service to each of their members.

Thanks to 2006 bar committee chairs

By Diane Dulken
Oregon Trial Lawyers Association

It used to be a desolate lot, home to weeds and piles of garbage.

Thanks to Habitat for Humanity, and with the help of volunteers and donors, including Oregon Trial Lawyers Association members, 16 new homes grace Lambert Street in the Lents urban renewal area of Portland. And 16 grateful families got the keys to those houses this fall in a festive dedication ceremony.

OTLA members helped make the project possible, collectively donating more than $20,000 to help build the home now occupied by the four-member Chanocua family. Habitat for Humanity home sponsorships are available for individuals, law firms and law organizations.

The OTLA sponsorship was spearheaded by former OTLA President Jane Paulson and drew OTLA members to both donate and volunteer during the construction period that lasted about a year.

"The lives of these families were immediately improved by something most of us take for granted — a stable, safe place to call home," Paulson said. "We try to help people as part of our jobs but we rarely have such an opportunity to see how the simple act of getting involved can have such a lasting impact on someone else’s life."

Habitat for Humanity ownership is available to low-income hardworking families, who otherwise would be unable to afford the purchase. The Chanocuas — Miguel and Monica and their two young children, McKanzie, 6, and Nathan, 4 — had lived in substandard housing until their move into the Habitat home. Their previous apartment had holes in the door and flooring, broken kitchen cabinets and a pool of stagnant water in the backyard that took over the children’s play area. It was no place to raise a family.

Now Paulson encourages other attorneys who wish to get involved with Habitat projects as sponsors, donors or volunteers. Portland Habitat for Humanity is getting ready to start several new homes at New Columbia in North Portland. Donors and volunteers may contact Sue Donora, at sue_donora@pdxhabitat.org or (503) 287-9529, ext. 13.